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If Lincoln Had Not Freed The Slaves In this article Tom Wicker lets us look at a side of the Emancipation Proclamation that we might not have looked at but is very important to understanding the civil war. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862 and it declared slaves “forever free.”(p.152) This proclamation was very damaging to the Confederate army. It would end all slavery in the states that where fighting in the war against the Union. And as Wicker states “and from that point on, the European recognition that the Confederacy so desperately sought would seem an endorsement of slavery.”(p.153) President Lincoln had written the proclamation way before it was issued. He was advised not to have it declared until the Union had a victory. The Confederate army was making its way up to Baltimore and winning most of the Battles. But on September 17 the Union had a victory and the proclamation was put in effect. Lin